Bell House | |
Location | 550 Upper Kingston Rd., Prattville, Alabama |
---|---|
Coordinates | 32°28′17″N86°28′40″W / 32.47139°N 86.47778°W |
Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1893 |
Architect | Lockwood, Frank |
Architectural style | Queen Anne |
NRHP reference No. | 99000150 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | February 12, 1999 |
Designated ARLH | October 7, 1998 [2] |
The Bell House (also known as Biggs House) is a historic house located at 550 Upper Kingston Road in Prattville, Alabama, United States. It is locally significant as an excellent example of the Queen Anne style of architecture, that reached its zenith in Alabama at the turn of the 20th century and continued locally as late as 1920.
The Queen Anne style 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was completed in 1893. It is designed by Alabama architect Frank Lockwood. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997, and on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on October 7, 1998. [1] [2]
Joseph Bennett Bell, son of Jonathan Ezekiel and Georgiana (Bennett) Bell, was born in Greenville, Alabama on November 18, 1859. He was raised in Greenville and moved to Montgomery upon the completion of his education and obtained a job as a clerk at a hardware store. Bell married Mary Pratt, daughter of Julia (Smith) and Merrill Pratt on November 17, 1889. Merrill was the nephew of Prattville town founder Daniel Pratt and was named heir of half his fortune upon his death in 1873. Bell moved to Prattville in early 1890 and served as a manager for the order department of the Daniel Pratt Gin Company as well as a stockholder and manager for the Pratt Company. The Bell House was constructed in 1893. Bell was listed as a secretary for the Prattville Mercantile Company in 1905, and served as a member for the State Legislature representing Autauga County from 1911 to 1915. In April 1919, Bell was appointed probate judge of the county, of which he served until October of the same year. Joseph and Mary raised their eight children until Joseph died in 1937; Mary followed him in 1945. That same year, the Bells daughters Katherine and Adelaide (whom the former had returned from service in World War II) lived in the house until they sold it to Thomas H. Walker in October 1949. In 1970, the house was sold to Colonel Ernest and Martha Biggs by Nancy and Hyman Hamner, the former of which are the recorded owners as of 1998.
In 1994, the house was used as a filming location for Charles Matthau’s 1995 film The Grass Harp, based on Truman Capote’s novella of the same name. [2]
Autauga County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the population was 58,805. Its county seat is Prattville.
Prattville is a city located within both Autauga and Elmore counties in the State of Alabama, United States, but serves as the county seat of Autauga County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,781. Nicknamed "The Fountain City" due to the many artesian wells in the area, Prattville is part of the Montgomery metropolitan statistical area.
Daniel Pratt was an American industrialist who pioneered ventures that opened the door for industry in Alabama. Prattville in Autauga County, Alabama, and Birmingham's Pratt City in Jefferson County, Alabama on the Pratt coal seam are both named for him. He is buried in Daniel Pratt Cemetery, located on top of Ginshop Hill near downtown Prattville, Alabama.
The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, commonly referred to as the Alabama Register, is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama. These properties, which may be of national, state, and local significance, are designated by the Alabama Historical Commission. The designation is honorary and carries no direct restrictions or incentives. The register includes properties such as cemeteries, churches, moved properties, reconstructed properties, and properties at least 40 years old which may not normally qualify for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. There are approximately 1,683 properties and districts listed on the Alabama Register. Of these, approximately 240 are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and 6 are designated as National Historic Landmarks.
The Prattville Dragoons were a company of men from the city of Prattville, and Autauga County, Alabama, organized for Confederate service during the American Civil War of 1861-1865.
The Lassiter House, also known as the Treadwell House, is a historic residence in Autaugaville, Alabama, United States. The house was built in 1825 in the vernacular I-house style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997. It is also listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
This is a list of properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, sorted alphabetically by county. This list contains all entries for Pickens County through Winston County, the other listings may be found here. The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama.
This is a list of properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, sorted alphabetically by county. This list contains all entries for Autauga County through Choctaw County, the other listings may be found here. The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama.
This is a list of properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, sorted alphabetically by county. This list contains all entries for Clarke County through Dallas County, the other listings may be found here. The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama.
This is a list of properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, sorted alphabetically by county. This list contains all entries for DeKalb County through Jackson County, the other listings may be found here. The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama.
This is a list of properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, sorted alphabetically by county. This list contains all entries for Jefferson County through Macon County, the other listings may be found here. The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama.
This is a list of properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, sorted alphabetically by county. This list contains all entries for Madison County through Perry County, the other listings may be found here. The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama.
The Mount Sinai School is a historic Rosenwald School in rural Autauga County, Alabama, US, northwest of Prattville. The one-story frame building was built in 1919 to the designs of W.A. Hazel to serve the local African American community. The money to build it was provided by the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The school was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on February 2, 2001. It was subsequently listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 2001, as a part of The Rosenwald School Building Fund and Associated Buildings Multiple Property Submission.
The Montgomery–Janes–Whittaker House, best known today as Buena Vista, is a historic Federal style plantation house in Autauga County, Alabama, United States, south of Prattville. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 25, 1974. The house is currently owned by the Autauga County Heritage Association and operated as a historic house museum.
The Daniel Pratt Historic District is a historic district that includes 140 acres (57 ha) and 154 buildings in Prattville, Alabama, United States. It is named in honor of Prattville's founder, Daniel Pratt. The district includes the historic downtown and is roughly bounded by 6th Street in the north, Northington Street in the east, 1st Street in the south, and Bridge and Court streets in the west. Architecture in the district includes the Greek Revival, Italianate, and Bungalow styles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 30, 1984.
The Stone Plantation, also known as the Young Plantation and the Barton Warren Stone House, is a historic Greek Revival-style plantation house and one surviving outbuilding along the Old Selma Road on the outskirts of Montgomery, Alabama. It had been the site of a plantation complex, and prior to the American Civil War it was known for cotton production worked by enslaved people.
Henry Fairchild DeBardeleben was an American coal magnate and town founder from Alabama.
Daniel Pratt Cemetery is a historical burial place in Prattville, Alabama. The cemetery dates from 1849 to 1886. It is located roughly bounded by Northington Road, 1st, 6th, Bridge, and Court Streets. The cemetery is a contributing property on the Daniel Pratt Historic District. It is also listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on September 14, 1977.
The Robert Wilton Burton House, at 315 E. Magnolia St. in Auburn, Alabama, was built in 1885 in Queen Anne style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Daniel Pratt Cotton Gin Manufactory was a cotton gin factory created by Daniel Pratt in 1854, in what is now Prattville, Alabama, a town named for him. The factory became the largest cotton gin machinery factory in the world and supplied cotton gins to all cotton producing countries.